Time for Petco paranoia to go way of the dodo

The Padres have just begun their sixth season in Petco Park, and it appears they've finally called off the exorcists. Extensive and expensive studies by engineers have revealed the place is an expanse of grass and dirt, with fences along its outer edge. There is no cemetery beneath it. They don't sell voodoo dolls in the gift shop.

It's difficult to judge any baseball team after a few days, although it's apparent to just about everyone who doesn't believe in witchcraft that these particular Padres aren't going to arrive in Cooperstown in the same bus. But there are enough new faces probably unaware of the Petco Curse, what with so many of the complainers having grabbed their Tarot cards and left the building.

This is not – not – the Petco Triangle.

Maybe if the players can look deep within themselves and not outside at the joint's dimensions, they can do the unthinkable, as they did yesterday, scoring three runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to overcome and then hold off the wealthy and multitalented Dodgers 4-3.

“Watching guys in the dugout, the focus was still there,” Padres manager Bud Black would say. “Guys were still talking; guys were pushing. It was awesome. It was a great team win. Early in the year, it sets a good tone.”

Maybe these Padres aren't buying into this Petco manure, because that's just what it is.

Don't think Petco had anything to do with Padres starter Kevin Correia walking three Dodgers, leading to a run in the second inning.

Don't think Petco had anything to do with San Diego second baseman David Eckstein getting L.A. starter Clayton Kershaw to throw him 12 pitches in one at-bat before doubling on Kershaw's 13th.

Don't think Petco had anything to do with the Padres coming into yesterday's game hitting 2-for-18 with runners in scoring position.

Don't think Petco had anything to do with closer Heath Bell allowing Orlando Hudson a triple to start the ninth and then stranding him after getting Manny Ramirez to ground feebly to short, walking Andre Ethier and finally persuading Russell Martin to hit into a game-ending double play.

Don't think Petco had anything to do with the Padres' $42 million payroll, or the divorce of owners John and Becky Moores, or the fact that, on Opening Day, the team had one everyday player in its starting lineup that had come up through its farm system (left fielder Chase Headley).

And I certainly don't think Petco had anything to do with the Pads coming back from a 3-1 deficit. Adrian Gonzalez hit a solo, opposite-field home run in that eighth inning. Why? Because he hit it very hard.

Good players can do well in three feet of standing water. There may be horses for courses, but ballplayers are ballplayers – or should be – wherever they may be. Willie Mays played in the Polo Grounds and Candlestick Park, both death to right-handed hitters. He hit 660 home runs.

“I'm so tired of hearing that stuff,” Padres ace Jake Peavy was saying. “We can win here; we've won here. So it's not a bandbox. Matt Kemp hit one off the batter's eye against me the other day. Hit it hard. I'm tired of ballpark excuses.

“There are ballparks that play bigger than this. Guys will tell you Pac Bell, or whatever it is (now AT&T in San Francisco), is harder to hit in. The guys who've been here are not going to let the new guys get in a negative frame of mind. This team has moved past that. It's not like the Dodgers were batting in Arizona and we were batting here.”

It's just like the weather. Both teams have to play in it.

“We don't need players who have the ballpark in their heads,” Black said. “I feel as though our players are strong mentally, so the ballpark shouldn't come into their heads. You're playing a baseball game. Play the game.

“Eighteen players play at the same time. It's a baseball game. When the wind blows out in Chicago, the same guys are playing. I hear about Safeco outs and Citizens Bank home runs and Great American Ballpark home runs. So what?”

You go out and continue to play, as the Padres did yesterday, that's what. Teams with less talent can win by playing it right, playing it smart, playing it aggressively. When you think you can't, you can't.

As Black put it: “If the ballpark gets in the way, we've got the wrong players.”

I'm convinced Tony Gwynn would have hit .400 in Petco. They should think about that.